Author: kevin@kevincullen.me

By Mark Curriden (May 31) – Corporations call it the “McKinsey effect.” It describes decisions business leaders make when hiring outside experts to advise them when the future of the company is at stake. Executives and corporate board members, when placed in “bet-the-company” situations, hire elite advisers no matter their costs, such as management consulting…

By Mark Curriden (June 2) – Walter Umphrey stood at the side of a conference room at the Doubletree Hotel in Austin in January 1998 as the press conference began. Then-Texas Attorney General Dan Morales unveiled a huge cardboard check from the nation’s largest cigarette makers to state officials for $15.3 billion – the single…

By Mark Curriden (Jan. 23) – Frank Branson and T. John Ward were young lawyers battling in court. Branson represented the victim of medical malpractice, and Ward defended the hospital. The trial was a heated, take-no-prisoners battle. The attorneys aggressively advocated for their clients. They almost came to fisticuffs several times. At the end of…

By Mark Curriden (March 11) – No one ever accused Michael D. Wortley of being a publicity hound. He’s not a regular commentator on television nor does he hold a lot of press conferences to discuss his clients’ business. He doesn’t promote himself on any of the Best Lawyers or Super Lawyers listings. But seasoned…

By Mark Curriden (March 11) – Legendary Houston trial lawyer Joe Jamail walked into the office of his young associate, Richard Mithoff, in 1977 to hand off a case. “He gave me the case file on Friday. I interviewed the client on Saturday. We went to trial on Monday,” Mithoff says. The client was Norma…

By Mark Curriden (Feb. 23) – Forrest Smith had been a lawyer in the tax department of Magnolia Petroleum (now known as Mobil Oil) for only six months when the company’s assistant general counsel, Roy Ledbetter, approached him about handling a personal case for his family. The client was an important employee of the Dallas…

By Mark Curriden HOUSTON (Feb. 22) – David Beck – only months removed from law school – stood before a Harris County District Court jury. The year was 1965 and he represented an older couple who drove their car the wrong way on a newly built freeway. They collided head-on with another vehicle, causing serious…

By Mark Curriden (Feb. 28) – Ron White has scored huge courtroom victories and represented some of the nation’s largest corporate clients. He’s mentored some of the most successful lawyers in Dallas, including several judges. White successfully built his law firm from scratch. He’s served in some of the most prestigious positions for business and…

By Mark Curriden (Feb. 13) – During his four and a half decades as a lawyer, Royal Furgeson has had some great jobs. He spent a quarter a century as a trial attorney and two decades as a federal district court judge. Now, he is dean of the University of North Texas College of Law.…

By Mark Curriden When the City of Dallas and Southwest Airlines went to federal court in 2016 to banish Delta Airlines from operating five flights a day at Love Field, the Atlanta-based carrier hired Bill Dawson to do battle in hostile territory against the two hometown favorites. Southwest claimed Delta had the ability to operate…